Deshaun Watson has a bit of competition for the most dramatic quarterback situation this season – it looks like things are a bit gloomy in the Northwest Pacific. Tensions are rising between Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, and as a Seahawks resident of Deadspin, it’s my job to try to explain this current situation while keeping my heart mostly out of it. So here it goes.
First, the contract. Wilson is the third highest paid quarterback in the league (and of all time) with an average annual salary of $ 35 million. Until the Texans backed the Brinks truck for $ 39 million a year for Watson and made the Chiefs Mahomes essentially the governor of Missouri with the largest contract in all of U.S. sports history ($ 450 million over ten years), Wilson was at the top of the list.
This is the difference: Mahomes and Watson are 26. Wilson is 33.
So where did the rumors of trouble in paradise begin? Jason La Canfora from CBS Sports (take it with a grain of salt) posted on twitter that he ‘heard Russell Wilson’s camp became increasingly frustrated by the Seahawks’ inability to protect the 8-time Pro Bowler. He was fired 394 times in 9 seasons. This situation justifies monitoring. At first it sounded like smoke outside the season of the agent of a player trying to push an organization to make changes. I did not really buy it. Then, on Tuesday, at a Zoom press conference after winning the NFLs Walter Payton Man of the Year Award On Saturday, Wilson confirmed the reports from La Canfora.
‘I’m frustrated because I’m getting too much. “I’m frustrated with that,” Wilson said.
Wilson also appears at the Dan Patrick show, where he is asked if the Seahawks have received calls about a possible deal for him. “Yes, I definitely believe they got calls,” Wilson said. ‘Yes, but you’re a franchise quarterback, you’re a Hall of Fame quarterback. You’re not available, are you? ‘Ask Patrick. “I do not know if I am available or not, it’s a question from the Seahawks.” He added: “I’m not sure how long I’ll be playing in Seattle – hopefully it’s forever, but things are changing.”
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The next day, Patrick reported that the buyer of Seahawks this week is not at all happy with Wilson. “A source told me that the management of Seahawks is not happy with Russell Wilson and his camp that they took it to the media,” Patrick said. “You wonder if they can live together. The current situation is not sustainable. This is what I was told. ”
Wilson has every right to be frustrated. Since 2014, the last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl (oh, the good old days … remember when we were going to be the next dynasty, and then Pete Carroll fucked it up by throwing it on the goal line and the locker room ? Fun times), no team spent less on their offensive line than Seattle, and no team signed less than an offensive lineout than Seattle. They have yet to sign a single attacking lineout company for a second contract. Not one. To be honest, I also would not sign that the general manager John Schneider of the garbage players has been drafting since.
Where do things stand then? Wilson has an absurdly high contract and is 33 years old. Schneider inexplicably received a six-year contract extension (after I specifically asked the Seahawks not to do so) The Seahawks are expected to have only about $ 2 million in the 2021 season, have only three drafts this year, do not have a first for the next two drafts (which I think does not matter because Schneider is not a first round can choose to save his life) and have aging stars in their impact positions. Oh, and Wilson is frustrated with them, and they’re frustrated with him.
It is good. That’s all right.
It would be almost unprecedented for a team to swap a franchise quarterback with a Hall of Fame resume, but the Seahawks have no more options. Schneider’s new contract ensures he has the freedom to rebuild this team without worrying about his job security. The only question the Seahawks have to ask themselves is whether they are capable of accepting mediocrity until Wilson leaves free agency in three years, or if they now want to get something in return for him and press the reset button. And at that point, my stomach hurts, and it’s time for a Pepto Bismol and a therapy session.